I recently set up Debian 13 with KDE, and I'm facing some serious performance issues. My CPU usage is at 100%, and it's making everything incredibly sluggish. I initially planned to install the Nvidia drivers, but I ran into problems with that—this also happened before when I was using GNOME, but I usually manage to resolve it eventually. I uninstalled the drivers with the intention of reinstalling them later. Now, I log in normally and have Firefox open on YouTube along with some settings and terminal windows, yet closing them doesn't alleviate the CPU usage. I discovered that "kwin_wayland" seems to be the culprit, but even terminating it doesn't help. Interestingly, I also installed Brave when the issue wasn't present, but now it freezes unexpectedly when I try to launch it.
5 Answers
Regarding the "kwin_wayland" issue, that definitely points towards a driver problem. Make sure to check out the Debian wiki for Nvidia drivers—it’s essential for setting things up correctly. Also, let us know what GPU you have; if it’s from the last couple of years, the default driver version in Debian's repositories might not support it well.
If you're still struggling, you might want to consider trying out a different Linux distro like Bazzite, which comes with the Nvidia drivers preinstalled. Sometimes simply switching distros can provide a better overall experience.
Also, have you tried installing the Nvidia drivers from the CUDA repository? That made a huge difference for me when I had similar issues. Might be worth a shot!
It sounds like the Nvidia drivers are really the key to solving your high CPU usage issues. Installing them should make a significant difference. Give it another shot and follow the instructions carefully. It’s sometimes tricky, especially with Debian, but it can make your experience much smoother.
You could explore installing Kubuntu 25.10. I recommend doing a minimal install and then checking the additional-drivers section for your Nvidia drivers. It might work better than your current setup.
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